Cutting Keys

I needed to have some keys cut today so my aunt, Tita Dayday, took me to centro to have it done. We parked around the block and walked the remaining distance. It had never occurred to me that keys could be copied by hand. I'm so used to going over to Canadian Tire and handing them over to an attendant who will insert the original and a blank key into the machine and press a button. A few minutes later, I've got a duplicate!

This time was different. When we got there, the entire sidewalk on one side of the street was set up with numerous locksmiths stations. Each station was brightly painted yellow and displayed a multitude of either keys, door knobs or padlocks. We took a moment to appraise our choices and decided to go with number 15, Willy Boy. His station had about a hundred keys all threaded on to a bent piece of wire.

We presented him with three keys for which we needed copies and he selected matching blanks keys. He worked with a file and a calliper, while we left to run another errand. He was all done by the time we returned less than 10 minutes later. He averaged just over 3 minutes per key, that's comparable to his machine-like competitor! He charged 40 PHP (a little less than 1 CAD) per key which is a much better rate than at the mall where it can cost approximately 80 PHP per key.

Although he seemed to know what he was doing, I had my reservations about whether or not the keys would work. He assured us that if they didn't work, we could always bring them back and he would copy them again. When we got home, we tried all three and every attempt was a successful one! So I certainly recommend giving this a go next time you're in need of duplicates. It was accurate, quick, and affordable.

Wish you were here!

Review: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

The other day I finished Brave New World. It had been waiting on my bookshelf for at least a year when I finally got around to it. I get so excited by shiny new books that I buy them a lot faster than I can read them. I estimate that I've read just over 50% of the books I own. As difficult as it has been, I have decided to abstain from buying any more books until I increase that number to at least 75%.

Considered Huxley's greatest work, Brave New World has been ranked fifth on Modern Library's list of 100 Best Novels. This dystopian novel is set in London, England in the year "632 A.F." which is more like AD2540 in the Gregorian calendar. This is a place where people are hatched from bottles on a conveyor belt, promiscuity is encouraged and being called a "mother" is outrageous and insulting.

I had high hopes for this novel because of it's ranking and because of it's genre. Dystopian novels are my thing; 1984 by George Orwell and The Giver by Lois Lowry are my two absolute favourite books. So I'm at a loss for words to say that this book let me down a little.

It started well with a tour of the Central London Hatching and Conditioning Centre where the Director of the Hatchery explains to a group of boys how humans are created. Bottles containing embryos travel along on a conveyor belt through the factory-like building. Then there is the Bokanovsky Process where eggs can be manipulated to produce identical multiples of up 96 humans. Embryos are grouped into castes, Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma, or Epsilon. The Alphas are allowed a natural gestation while every succeeding caste is treated to become less mentally and physically capable than the preceding caste. Later, we meet Lenina Crowe who is being criticised by her friend, Fanny, for not having more lovers. What would everyone think if they knew she had been seeing Henry Foster exclusively for several months? The horror! Bernard Marx feels as if he does not fit in with his fellow Alphas due to inferior stature. His views on sexual relationships differ from what they've been conditioned to believe their whole lives. They live in a loveless society. "Everyone belongs to everyone else."

The opening chapters of the book definitely pulled me in and I was interested in seeing where this would lead to. Bernard and Lenina meet John the Savage on a trip to a savage reservation in New Mexico called Malpais. Malpais is translated to "bad country" in Spanish which is rather ironic considering John's final views on Bernard and Lenina's "mother"land.

Without giving too much away, the ending is what disappointed me. It's not that I didn't understand it, I just felt as if there could've been more. Once John is introduced, Bernard and Lenina fall into the shadows of the story line. I would've wanted to see more of them since they were the first two characters I met. The world is seen through John's eyes now. 

Considering that this book was written in 1932 as a projection of society in 2540, Huxley is definitely ahead of his time. He has predicted a lot of the problems that western societies face today; uncontrolled consumerism, drug and substance abuse, and deteriorating interpersonal relationships. 

I really want to love this book so I may give it another chance some day. But don't take my word for it. If you have read the book, let me know what you think. If you haven't, then take the time to check it out and see for yourself. 

Wish you were here!

Naga City's Wet Market

Today, I accompanied my grandmother, Lola Nen, to the wet market in centro. I had never been there before but I had heard about it's smells and sounds so I was curious to see what it was like.

When I came downstairs all ready to go, Lola Nen took one look at me and told me that what I was wearing was inappropriate for the market. My tank top was fine, but my knee length shorts and flip flops just wouldn't do. I was instructed to put on pants and to wear closed-toe shoes. I didn't understand the reason for this but it became evident once I arrived.

We took the tricycle to centro and climbed the stairs of the market building. The first thing I noticed were all the bright lights hung by every stall and the floor was soaked in fish juices and water! There was fish everywhere! Lola wasted no time. If she saw something she was interested in, she would personally inspect the freshness of the item by poking it and by checking under the gills. It had to be pink to red in colour; if it was darkened, it was no good. Lola taught me to make sure that the scale was set to zero before having items weighed. This was to ensure that we would be getting everything we paid for. We bought maya-maya, bangus, tilapia, and squid.

Moving forward, we stopped for some vegetables and then on to the red meat! We bought a large piece of pork tenderloin which was then finely sliced. It will be later marinated and tenderized to make tapa. We were also sold two pork legs. Those will be prepared to make crispy pata. After they cut the toenails off and wrapped them up, we were on our way home!

If it wasn't for those shoes, I definitely would've been marinated in some kind of wet market soup. It was an insightful look into daily life in Naga City and I would definitely go back.

Wish you were here!

Hello World!

My name is Stella and I love to travel. And whenever I do, I always send postcards.

I live to travel. I am in the ceaseless pursuit of international citizenship. My definition of international citizenship is the ability to find a home and a sense of belonging wherever you go. I have been to thirty (if you count the Vatican) countries in Asia, North America, South America, and Europe.

My dream is to spend at least one month in India. I want to go and eat the food and see the sights, but more than anything, I want to experience it the way the natives do. Well, that's really the way I want all of my experiences to be like.

I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in Languages & Literatures. I studied Spanish, French, and Chinese. Studying languages has only intensified my love of travel. I will forever consider myself a language student no matter how fluent I become. I love linguistics! It's the scientific study of languages. I'm constantly analysing language and the variations in dialect and accent in the same language amaze me.

I was born in Naga City, Camarines Sur, Philippines and I've moved around since then. My permanent home is in Canada although I also consider Trindad & Tobago and The Philippines my home too.

This blog is to share information on my number one interest, travel, as well as the others that I have; food photography, books, water related activities (ex/ swimming and scuba diving) etc...

Enjoy!

Wish you were here!